US and Cuba begin talks on policing

WASHINGTON — The United States and Cuba began talks on how to cooperate in fighting trafficking and organised crime as they slowly normalise ties.

The neighbours across the Florida Straits renewed their diplomatic relations in July after a 50-year stand-off, but the latest talks were the first on law enforcement.

According to the US State Department, the sides agreed to find ways to work together to "promote cyber-security and combat terrorism, drug trafficking, trafficking and trade in persons, money laundering, smuggling and other transnational crimes".

The Cuban delegation to Washington was headed by Abel Gonzalez Santamaria, a senior official at Cuba's National Defense and Security Commission.

He met US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Edward Alex Lee and Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice.

The policing talks are part of a broader series of ongoing discussions in several economic, political and legal fields as the one-time enemies learn to live side-by-side. — AFP